Tag Archives: Abaco Birding

DOWITCHERS FOR ABACO TWITCHERS

(THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT…)

Long-billed (Limnodromus scolopaceus)? Or Short-billed (Limnodromus griseus)? Which one is that over there? No, not there. There! For Abaco, the answer is very easy. The SBD is a common winter resident, whereas the LBD is an occasional casual visitor, recorded rarely and irregularly in the Northern Bahamas.So if you are looking at a Dowitcher, it’s 98% certain that’s it’s an SBD. Which is lucky – they are so similar that telling them apart is a complex ID challenge, even if seen together! Until 60 years ago they happily existed as one species until the avian powers-that-be decided to prise them apart and award them separate species status. All the birds featured here are Abaco SDBs, with one exception… More on the comparisons and differences below.

The Dowitcher’s bill is an extremely effective instrument for probing deep into low water and mud. The rapid stabbing for concealed invertebrates has been vividly described as being ‘like a sewing-machine’. A ‘Dowitcher Stitcher’. So to speak.

HOW DID THE DOWITCHER GET ITS NAME?

I had assumed that the strange name for these birds was onomatopoeic, in the same way that a Killdeer is supposed to call “Kill…Deer”. And a Bobwhite, an interrogative “Bob…White?”. When I tried to check this online, I found that the usually valuable primary sources for bird info were silent on the topic. In the end, I tracked down a Merriam Webster entry that simply said “probably of Iroquoian origin; akin to Oneida tawístawis. First Known Use: 1841″. Which left me better informed, but no wiser…

In the header image, the bird is foraging in shallow water. In deeper water or with softer mud, SBDs will plunge their bills in to the hilt

SHORT OR LONG – HOW ON EARTH DO I TELL?

1. HELPFUL(ISH) WAYS

On Abaco, if you see a Dowitcher the overwhelming likelihood is that it’s a SBD

The species prefer different habitats, with the LBS preferring freshwater even in coastal regions

The SBD prefers coastal areas, shorelines and brackish / muddy ponds

The SBD’s call is said to be “mellower” than the LDB – though unless you have heard both for comparison, that’s not a very useful identifier.

The body shapes are apparently subtly different, in ways I personally can only begin to guess

In breeding plumage, the species have perceptible colour / pattern differences. (If you have binoculars?)

2. CONFUSING FACTORS

LBDs may occasionally join SBDs that are foraging on open tidal flats

Actual bill length may not help, there’s an overlap – some SBDs may have longer bills and vice versa.

There are theories about bill-length / head size comparison as a field ID method. Do they work? As if!

Winter plumage of both species is very similar (grey). Both are only on Abaco in winter. Go figure.

DOES THE DOWITCHER HAVE ANY PRACTICAL APPLICATION?

Yes! In Scrabble you can form a stonking 315 words from those 9 letters, all permitted under Scrabble rules (though not my own house rules, which forbid ridiculous 2 and 3 letter words that sound invented for the purpose of winning Scrabble). Apart from the full 9 letter original, there’s one 8 letter word – ‘witherod’, a type of viburnum plant; and 13 words of 7 letters, of which I’d say 8 are in common though not everyday usage. I’ll leave you to work out the remaining 301 words…

DO YOU HAVE ANY LBD PHOTOS TAKEN ON ABACO?

I surely do. Woody Bracey photographed a pair of dowitchers together on Abaco, one SBD and one LBD. But even though this looks a pretty straightforward comparison of bill length, colouring and marking, by now I’m now so confused that I’m beginning to wish the two species could be happily reunited into one…

MASKED BOOBY: A SPECTACULAR NEW BIRD SPECIES FOR ABACO

Hot avian news has arrived today from Woody Bracey: the 4th brand new species recorded for Abaco within the last 12 months has just been sighted in Abaco waters, north of Great Guana Cay. It was a single Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra), a large seabird also known as a Masked Gannet (and it certainly looks quite gannet-like). [NB the photos in this post are obviously not of the new bird, but are illustrative of the species]

Description: Single Masked Booby “Large white bird sitting on the sea with a yellow-greenish bill and no yellow on the head, then flew a few 100 yards showing the black trailing edge to the wings and wingtips and tail. Adult female.”

EIGHT ESSENTIAL MASKED BOOBY FACTS

First described by A French naturalist in 1831

One of six species of booby in the ‘Booby’ genus Sula

The largest Booby species

The only other Booby species recorded for Abaco is the Brown Booby

The closest breeding populations to Abaco are off Mexico and southern Caribbean

Silent at sea, whistling greeting call in nesting colonies plus a repertoire of ‘hissing and quacking’

Spectacular diving abilities

2 eggs are laid: very often the first chick to hatch kills the second (“Siblicide”)

GREEDY GREEN HERON & A FACEFUL OF FISH

The Green Heron Butorides virescens is one of 6 heron species found on Abaco. I wrote a detailed post about them last summer HERE, with some wonderful Abaco images (none taken by me…). Since then, I got in touch with Binkie van Es, who had photographed the increasingly rare Bahama Oriole on Andros. Small areas of the island are the last remaining habitat of a lovely bird that until recently was one of Abaco’s prized endemics. You can see some excellent pictures of them HERE(none mine either!) and read the sad story of their population decline towards extinction.

Binkie kindly gave use permission for some of his other photos. I especially like this sequence of a green heron getting more than he bargained for in his choice of lunch. In the end greed overcomes a formidably large snack, but it’s a hard one to swallow…

I caught me a handsome fish to take to my dining area

Think this ain’t going to be easy? Just you watch!

See? I just sort of slurp it in like… so. Practice makes perfect.

Busy… can’t really talk right now

Nmmpphh Grfffffff Mmpphphphph Rmmmmmmmph!

Ulppppp!

No Green Heron was harmed in the photographing of this sequence. Sadly I can’t say the same for the fish, which despite its size had met its match…

FIERCE LITTLE FALCONS: MERLINS ON ABACO

Merlins (Falco columbarius) are fierce small falcons that are fast and agile in flight. On Abaco, they are fairly common winter residents – though finding one and managing to photograph it may take a bit of doing. And maybe a dose of luck. The ‘columbarius‘ part of their taxonomy reflects their colloquial name ‘Pigeon Hawk’. Merlins are found throughout much of the northern hemisphere. They are classified as a New World species and an Old World / Eurasian subspecies, F c aesalon. Some argue for two distinct species, the gene pools of the two versions apparently having parted company ten of thousands of years ago. The birds aren’t overly bothered by the debate.

Merlin World Range Map: yellow = summer, blue = winter

HOW DO MERLINS DIFFER FROM AMERICAN KESTRELS (AMKE)?

Slightly larger and notably heavier (thus having more speed and endurance in flight)

Different colouring, e.g. lacking the indicative reddish-browns of the AMKE

Distinctive tail-barring as against black ends to the tail feathers with a white fringe

Unlike the AMKE they don’t hover, but close in directly on the small birds that are the main prey, often flying very low to surprise the victim.

For comparison: Merlin in South Abaco, American kestrel at Sandy Point

SO JUST HOW FIERCE ARE MERLINS?

Formidable! If you are a small or even medium-sized bird, you need to keep your wits about you. Merlins are largely ‘omni-habitat’ within their range, which includes open country, shrubland, light forest, and grasslands. They are fast, agile and strong. They can fly high, at medium height or at ground level, and are expert in surprise attack and rapid pursuit of prey. If you are a large bird of prey – a red-tailed hawk, perhaps – they may attack you with ferocity. They may not actually be trying to nail you, but to get you out of their territory and their catchment area.

Most of a merlin’s prey is taken in flight, and their speciality is ‘tail-chasing’ terrified birds. Breeding pairs may hunt cooperatively, with one bird flushing prey from cover into the open for its mate to… well, you get the picture – they are clever too. They may even pursue birds that have been flushed out by another bird of prey in the vicinity.

MERLINS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS

This is a slightly fraught relationship, because Merlins do not always pose as one might wish. Sometimes they are hard to see, being fairly well camouflaged unless they choose to ‘go out on a limb’.

And sometimes they don’t play by the rules relating to light and focus, making a clear shot difficult

FALCONRY AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Dame Juliana Berners

Merlins were popular birds in medieval English falconry, and according to the 1486 Boke of Seynt Albans, the ‘Marlyon’ was considered the appropriate hunting bird for a lady. This book contained an essay on hunting attributed to Dame Juliana Berners, the prioress of a Priory near St Albans, who, game lady that she must have been, also contributed to one of the earliest treatises on fishing, ‘Fysshynge wyth an Angle‘ (hence, angling).

The Dame’s Manuscript

FURTHER HISTORICAL DIGRESSION (feel free to skip to final para)

While reading up further about Dame Juliana, I came across (wiki-tnx) a wonderful ranking for birds of prey matched to status that I hadn’t encountered before. Here’s the list, from Emperor to Knave / Servant. A Tercel was / is a male falcon, especially a Peregrine or Gyrfalcon. A Musket is a sparrowhawk.

The Boke of Seynt Albans also contains list of collective nouns for animals and birds, many familiar today such as “gaggle of geese”. There are also humorous collective nouns for different professions, such as a “diligence of messengers”, a “melody of harpers”, a “blast of hunters”, “a subtlety of sergeants”, and a “superfluity of nuns”…

Merlins are still trained for hunting smaller birds; and because of their speed and agility they are used in falconry displays. Despite changing habitat, and a perceptible dip in population from the use of pesticides now banned (such as DDT), the Merlin seems to be holding its own very well 5 centuries after the Boke was written.

FESTIVE BIRDING ON ABACO WITH GUEST BIRDER VELMA

Velma Knowles is a resident of Nassau but originates from Abaco, where her grandparents lived. She is a keen photographer and birder, and recently spent a few days ‘back home’ on Abaco, staying on Man-o-War Cay during that strange ‘Christmas to New Year’ period that people have begun to refer to uncomfortably as ‘Twixmas’. Which I guess goes well with ‘Winterval’, if that neologism to describe the festive season rocks your sleigh.

Obviously, Velma had her camera with her; and a bit of quality birding was built into her schedule. Man-o-War has been having a prolific winter season, birdwise, with plenty of interesting migratory species passing through or settling there till Spring. But who would be content with a random warbler from the North, when there are Abaco’s specialist birds to encounter. Many of the birds featured – all are permanent residents – were seen on Man-o-War; others on the main island, though not actually at Delphi. Every bird shown can readily be found at Delphi, except perhaps for the Royal Tern, hence a few mentions. Let’s see how Velma did during her brief visit. (Spoiler Alert: very well indeed!).

A first ‘get’ for anyone’s Abaco checklist, and hence the header image. Not available on the Cays, so a trip to the ‘mainland’ and the wild pine forest and coppice of South Abaco is called for (they don’t venture north of Marsh Harbour). Rescued from the brink of extinction by careful conservation measures, the newly regenerating population of these unique underground-nesting parrots is gradually spreading, making them easier to find. During the day, Bahamas Palm Shores is a likely spot, as are locations to the south, including Delphi and the area around Crossing Rocks down to Gilpin Point.

Abaco’s lovely endemic hummingbird, rather pushed around by the brash incomer Cuban Emerald and therefore tending to avoid them (though both can be found at Delphi). The MALE CUBAN EMERALD has a striking purple throat aka ‘gorget'; the female (below) encountered by Velma has a more delicate colouring.

Unlike the Woodstar, these pretty iridescent green hummers are not endemic yet are more frequently encountered. They fly and change direction with astonishing speed, and are feeder-keen! Your sugar-water feeder will also attract Bananquits (pointy curved beak for the little holes) and West Indian Woodpeckers (long tongue) – and possibly Woodstars.

Splendid and occasionally noisy birds that nest in boxes under the eaves at Delphi. They produce two families a year. Velma writes “It has been a long wait but I finally saw this lifer, the West Indian Woodpecker. This bird is only found in The Bahamas, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. Awesome call!”

Velma writes “One of my targeted birds, the Western Spindalis, formerly called the stripe-headed tanager. On the way from the airport we spotted him on the side-of-the-road. Now that’s island-birding!”

Velma writes“Such a beautiful call… the Thick-billed Vireo. We heard a number of these guys on our bird-walks. The Thick-billed Vireo is a Caribbean endemic, being restricted to The Bahamas, the Caymans, the Turks and Caicos, two islands off of Cuba and one off of Haiti (though it has been reported in Florida)”

The adult male’s striking colour patches are orange-red; the female’s are more yellow. They are greedy at the feeder and rank high up in the pecking order, where smaller birds defer to them. One local name for them is ‘Police Bird’: the adult male’s colouring matches that of a Bahamian Police Officer’s uniform.

SANDERLING ON ABACO: A PERFECT PEEP FOR THE NEW YEAR

Various matters have kept me from the Blogosphere over the last week, so this is the first post for 2015. And what gorgeous little birds to have to hand for it – the Sanderling Calidris alba, a small sandpiper or ‘stint’ that is a common and welcome winter sight on the shorelines of Abaco, as in many other parts of the world. Who can resist these little guys, the ‘wave chasers’ that work along the shoreline, rapidly following the surf as food is exposed on the tide. Sometimes they will actually run into the ripples of an incoming wave to snap up a morsel of food, before scuttling back up the beach. They have been likened to clockwork toys. Amusing and cheering little birds to watch, so here is a gallery of them to enjoy and to welcome in the new year.

Classic Sanderling foraging area in the wet sand left by the retreating tideThe birds are small and fly fast: a clear ‘in-flight’ photo is a great achievement

This sandpiper was taken by the late Tony Hepburn on Abaco. It has been ringed in its summer breeding grounds, and feeds in wave-softened sand with the tidal foam still visible all around it.